Images, Report, and Data from an Archaeological Evaluation at Land East of the A419, Kingsdown, Swindon, Wiltshire, 2018

This collection comprises the site photographs, report, and data from an archaeological evaluation of land east of the A419, Kingsdown, Swindon, Wiltshire, undertaken by Oxford Archaeology (South) during September and October 2018. The trial trench evaluation comprising 105 trenches targeted on geophysical anomalies at land at Kingsdown to the northeast of Swindon, Wiltshire (centred on NGR SU 15763 89598). The site is bisected by the Bythemill Brook, and to the north of this the only dated features were a Roman post hole, a medieval ditch and a postmedieval ditch. A number of struck flints were recovered from topsoil and subsoil layers in the trenches immediately to the north of the brook, but none were present in features, and no associated in situ archaeology was identified. To the south of the Brook, features of Iron Age date, including a ditch, pit and post hole, were present in Trenches 68 and 69 within the centre of the site. These trenches also contained substantial ditches related to a subrectangular enclosure with an eastern entrance, which was identified by the geophysics. The enclosure proved to be of Roman date and contained a single instance of cremated human bone, and donkey bone. To the south of the Roman enclosure, a ditch identified from the geophysical survey was investigated by Trenches 74 and 75. A single sherd of pottery recovered from its fill suggests that the ditch may be of early AngloSaxon date. Within the southern part of the site, Trench 99 contained a ditch of probable Iron Age date, and Trenches 94 to 99 contained a fairly dense array of features of middle Roman date, perhaps indicating the origin of a late Roman ladder enclosure that extends to the east, and which was recorded during an earlier phase of evaluation in 2010.As such, the trial trench evaluation has identified three localised, distinct and well defined concentrations of archaeological activity. The majority of the site produced either no archaeological remains, or a low level scatter of isolated features related to the agricultural use of the site in the Roman, medieval and later periods.